The Development of Ironmaking Technology

Iron which is the fourth most abundant element, constitutes approximately 5% of the earth’s crust. As early as the fourth century B.C. the excellent physical properties of iron were recognized, and it was used for decorative artifices as well as for various types of weapons. Some iron has been found in the metallic state, but the amount of this is extremely small and came from meteorites that entered our world from outer space. It is believed that this was the source of the iron used by the ancients.

Before the 18th century, iron and steel were produced only in fairly small quantities because all the known processes for winning iron from its ores and those for converting it into steel were extremely cumbersome and of very limited capacity. With the development of the blust furnace near the end of the 18th century, it became possible to produce iron in relatively large quantities, but the processes for converting iron into steel were still of very limited capacity.

The iron produced in the blast furnace could be cast from the furnace directly into molds so that it would solidify into desired shape or it could be cast into small molds along the runner, which fed them with liquid iron, resembled suckling pigs beside a sow, the iron in the molds was called pig iron and the iron in the runner, sow iron.

As a result, it became customary to apply the term pig iron to all of the iron produced in the blast furnace.

Вариант № 7

 

Задание I. Определите в следующих предложениях форму и функцию герундия; переведите предложения на русский язык:

1. You can separate salts from the liquid by cooling the solution. 2. By rubbing a glass rod with a piece of silk you develop difference of potentials on the surface of the rod. 3. When a boiling liquid is open to the atmosphere the vapour escapes into the air very quickly. 4. Great changes are produced by increasing temperature. 5. Loading a long rod causes changes in its form. 6. The group of research workers preferred heating the mixture for two days to get more accurate results. 7. The resistivity of a pure metal is increased by heating and reduced by cooking.

 

Задание II. Определите функцию и форму причастия в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. The flask containing acid was placed in the cooling mixture for cooling it down. 2. After drying, the product has changed its properties. 3. If concentrated hydrochloric acid is added to a solution of cupric chloride, the green solution turns brown owing to the formation of the complex union. 4. The lighted screen forms an acute angle-with the surface of the demonstration desk. 5. Having determined the composition of the substance, the scientists compared it with some other substances. 6. In all chemical reactions the weight of the reacting substances is equal to the weight of the products obtained.

 

Задание III. Определите форму и функцию инфинитива в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. Cosmic rays are intense enough to penetrate to the bottom of lakes 1,700 feet deep. 2. Newton was the first to realize elliptical paths of comets. 2. On account of the resistance of tin to the action of air and water, it is used to coat other metals 4. The solid to be used is highly soluble in water. 5. The laboratory assistant knew the substance too well not to believe the results of the experiment. 6. The report to be made by a famous researcher deals with very important problems in the field of atoms.

Задание IV. Переведите письменно текст, пользуясь металлургическим словарем:

Furnaces

The principle purpose of the steelmaking furnace is to remove most of the carbon from pig iron. Then a measured amount of carbon is added to the molten steel to give it the desired properties. Steel scrap is also utilized and other elements are added to improve the properties of the steel. A new obsolete furnace, the Bessemer converter, made possible the high tonnage production of steel in the mid-nineteenth century. Great ships, railroads, bridges, and large buildings were built as a result of this new source of steel being available. However, many of the impurities remained in the steel and, since a blast of air was used to burn out the carbon, the nitrogen in the atmosphere also become an impurity that weakened the steel.

The three modern processes and furnaces used to produce steel are basic oxygen, open hearth, and electric. These furnaces are not used interchangeably. Each system requires different energy sources and different sources of raw materials. The kind of facility is therefore chosen for economic reasons and the availability of raw materials and energy sources.

The basic oxygen furnace is designed to produce a high quality steel in a relatively short time, about one 200 to 300 ton heat (a single batch) over an hour as compared to the 100 to 375 tons per heat in 5 to 8 hours of the open hearth process. The principle raw material used in the basic oxygen furnace is molten pig iron from the blast furnace.

Вариант № 8

Задание I. Определите в следующих предложениях форму и функцию герундия; переведите предложения на русский язык:

1. The researcher insisted on our carrying out the important experiment in a well-equipped laboratory. 2. Metals cannot he dissolved without being changed into new substances. 3. After melting, the average speed of the molecules remains the same as before but the molecules are now free of each other. 4. The head of the laboratory was sure of his assistants being at work. 5. The process of overcoming the attractive forces between the molecules of a substance is called melting. 6. The only difference between waves transmitting heat radiation and radio waves is the difference in the wave length. 7. Every liquid can have a definite vapour pressure, this pressure increasing with rising temperature.

 

Задание II. Определите функцию и форму причастия в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. Having used a laser beam scientists obtained accurate calculations of Jupiter's temperature-minus 150 °F. 2. Being produced by the laser the narrow intense beam travels great distances without spreading. 3. Having learned the weight of hydrogen and oxygen, the research workers determined the ratio of two elements. 4. A change accompanied by the evolution of heat is described as exothermic, while one in which heat is absorbed is called endothermic. 5. Being heated, solids change into gases. 6. The research workers continued their important experiment, having found the needed solvent.

 

Задание III. Определите форму и функцию инфинитива в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. The computing equipment enabled investigators to process the received data much quicker. 2. It was for our engineer to decide what kind of computer to utilize for such calculations. 3. Acetylene is a very important starting material to prepare a number of synthetic products. 4. Polystyrene is a thermoplastic to be used in laboratories particularly for windows. 5. It is very difficult to define the shape of some glasses since it is impossible to quench them to homogeneous materials. 6. A number of metals are not active enough to react with water at ordinary temperature..

 

Задание IV. Переведите письменно текст, пользуясь металлургическим словарем:

The Blast Furnace

The blast furnace is a mechanical structure made of steel shell and lined inside with refractory materials in which metallic ores are melted in contact with fuel and flux, and the combustion of the fuel is accelerated by air under pressure. The materials are fed in at the top of the furnace, and after the ores are reduced, the metal, or in some cases the matter and the resulting slag are tapped in a molten state at or near the bottom as a rule. The slag, being of less specific gravity than the metal, floats on the surface. The sizes of the blast furnace vary from a few feet to over 120 feet in height.

A vertical section of a Modern American blast furnace, shows the hearth or crucible of the shape desired into which the air is admitted under pressure through nozzles. The materials are charged into the shaft so that layers of fuel alternate with layers of ore and flux. The reduced ore, co­ming into contact with burning fuel near the nozzles is melted and the liquid slag and metal drip into the hearth from which they are tapped out from time to time. The preheating of the blast before it is blown through the nozzles accelerates combustion and the blast furnaces produce increased quantities of metal with reduced fuel consumption per unit of product. The blast is heated to 1.200⁰C, and sometimes to 1.500 of 2.000⁰C.

Вариант № 9

Задание I. Определите в следующих предложениях форму и функцию герундия; переведите предложения на русский язык:

1. Using radioactive isotopes opens up new possibilities for medicine and agriculture. 2. We did not know of the research assistants having been given new up-to-date equipment. 3. John Dalton stated that atoms are incapable of being destroyed or created. 4. The Curies' having discovered radium gave them the possibility of discovering other radioactive elements. 5. One of the ways of producing tremendous energy is imitating on the Earth the process that makes the Sun shine. 6. We know of the atomic reactor being fed with uranium 235. 7. After the young scientist's report having been discussed at the conference it was published in a scientific journal.

 

Задание II. Определите функцию и форму причастия в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. The problems being discussed at the conference are of great importance for our future research. 2. Being built in a new way, modern laboratories are much more convenient than the old ones. 3. Having been constructed, the new branch was connected with the main gas line. 4. The new article published in the scientist’s report at the University describes the achievements in the field of organic chemistry. 5. If we weigh the hydrogen and oxygen liberated in the electrolysis of water, we find that the oxygen weighs 8 times as much as the hydrogen. 6. At the conference we discussed the problems solved by our research group.

Задание III. Определите форму и функцию инфинитива в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. The traditional approach to this problem is to consider each new process as a new problem. 2. To make computers work fast and correctly is a very significant task. 3. Scientists make new electronic machines store information, handle calculations and even control production processes. 4. A problem to be solved by a digital computer must be expressed in mathematical terms. 5. Digital computers are likely to be wider used than analogue ones. 6. A very porous product used as a heat insulator is produced by preparing a mixture of this substance with asbestos.

 

Задание IV. Переведите письменно текст, пользуясь металлургическим словарем:

Metals and Alloys

Of the l06 elements, 84 are classified as metals. A metal may be defined as a chemical element that is lustrous, hard, malleable, heavy, ductile, tenacious, and is a conductor of heat and electricity.

The reason for the increased use of metals is to be found in their characteristic properties. The most important of these properties is their strength, or ability to support weight without bending or breaking combined with toughness, or the ability to bend rather than break under a sudden blow. Resistance to atmospheric destruction, plasticity, and the ability to be formed into desired shapes add to the remarkable combination of properties possessed by no other class of materials. Some metals also have special properties, two of which being the power to conduct electric current and the ability to be magnetized.

Metals in their pure form are seldom used in engineering applications. Most of the metallic materials used in engineering are combinations of metals known as alloys. An alloy is any combination of elements that results in a substance possessing metallic properties. Elements may combine in different ways to form alloys. An alloy is formed by the union or mixture of two of more metals, or it may consist of one or more metals and non-metals, for example, iron and carbon basically form the alloy called steel, and copper and zinc form brass. To combine with one another is a very important ability of metals. Engineering metals are used in industry in the form of alloys because the properties of alloys are much better than the properties of pure metals

Вариант № 10

Задание I. Определите в следующих предложениях форму и функцию герундия; переведите предложения на русский язык:

1. After Newton's discovering the law of universal gravitation, many people became interested in mathematics. 2. Newton's discovering this law was of great importance. 3. Insoluble compounds are removed by allowing them to settle or by filtering. 4. He founded modern physics by stating the laws of motion and modern astronomy by working out the law of universal gravitation. 5. Freon is used in some refrigerating machines, it has the advantage of being non-toxic and noninflammable. 6. Hydrogen chloride is usually prepared by heating a mixture of concentrated sulphuric acid and the appropriate salt. 7. Water gas is obtained mainly by passing steam over coke.

 

Задание II. Определите функцию и форму причастия в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. The impure salt obtained from salt mines and sea water may be purified by recrystallization. 2. A salt is a compound resulting from the replacement of the hydrogen of an acid by a metal. 3. Electrons built of steel and glass are very beautiful in appearance. 4. When dissolved in cold water, the acid reacts very slowly. 5. Aluminium oxide like magnesium decreases greatly in volume if heated in an electric furnace. 6. Carbon dioxide, being highly exothermal in its formation, is quite stable with respect to heat.

 

Задание III. Определите форму и функцию инфинитива в предложении; предложения переведите:

1. M.V. Lomonosov was the first to found Russian materialistic philosophy in the middle of the 18^th century. 2. Water being carefully purified by repeated distillations proves to be a rather good insulator. 3. For nearly a century after Dalton formulated the atomic theory, atoms were generally assumed to be the invisible particles of the elementary substances. 4. Atoms are too small to be seen even under a powerful microscope. 5. The metal hydroxides react with acids and with oxides of non-metals to form water and salts. 6. Aluminium is the third element of the third period and the most abundant of the metals to be found in the Earth’s crust.

 

Задание IV. Переведите письменно текст, пользуясь металлургическим словарём:

Pig Iron

The three raw materials needed to make pig iron are iron ore, coke, and limestone. They are put into the furnace at interval, making the process continuous. About two tons of ore, one ton of coke, and a half ton of limestone are required to produce one ton of iron.

Coke is a residue left after soft coal is heated in the absence of air. Coke is produced in coke ovens where the volatile elements that are driven off the coal are collected. Many useful products are made from these gases: fuel gas, ammonia, sulfur, oil, and coal tars. From the coal tars many important products, such as plastics, dyes, synthetic rubbers, perfumes, sulfa drugs, and aspirin.

The operation of the blast furnace is called reduction. This is a process in which oxygen is removed from a compound, in this case, iron ore. The oxygen is combined with carbon to form carbon dioxide, and the metallic iron is released from its oxide state, leaving molten iron with about 4 percent carbon. The molten iron is tapped at intervals and collected in an insulated transfer car.

Then it is taken to a steelmaking furnace and charged into it. So­me of the iron is used elsewhere and is remelted and refined in foundries for casting purposes. For shipping, it is cast in pigs. In earlier times the pigs were made in open sand moulds consisting of a groove or trough with many small molds on each aide, reminding one of a sow and pigs, hence the name "pig iron".

 

 

Составитель: И.Н. Кушина

 

КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА №3

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